Can the lessons of the Spanish Civil War be applied to the situation in Libya? The debate has been ongoing. George Will contributed to the discussion yesterday in his Washington Post column:
Now the administration must decide how to characterize those on whose behalf we have gone to war. They are...
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Shooting continues apace for Philip Kaufman's new film on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman. Yesterday Caught on Set published a series of images taken in the hills of Livermore, California.
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The progressive policies of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero, who this week announced that he will not be running for a third term, have been alarming conservatives and Catholics beyond Spain. When the Pope visited earlier this past fall--an event which brought thousands of Spaniards to the streets in protest--he stunned...
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On Saturday, April 23, Columbia University and the International Center of Photography will present a day-long symposium titled “China and Spain, 1936-39: Robert Capa and the Global Popular Front.” Bringing together eleven scholars from the U.S. and China, the symposium will explore the interconnections between the Spanish Civil War and the concurrent Chinese...
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Jonathan Freedland writes in the Guardian on the Valle de los Caídos, Franco's monstrous monument, which continues to attract controversy:
Spain's socialist government understands the potency of Valle de los Caídos, or Valley of the Fallen. Indeed, much energy has been devoted to taming it. Since 2009, the site has been closed to general...
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The legendary camera factory and photography agency are teaming up for a series of multimedia essays, the first one of which
examines the legacy of Magnum photographers and Leica users from the Spanish Civil War to the present including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Bruce Davidson, Elliot Erwitt, Constantine Manos, Susan Meiselas, Alex...
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The Guardian's Giles Tremlett, author of Ghosts of Spain, asks Barcelona publishers, among other things, why Spanish writers are still so obsessed with the legacy of the Spanish civil war. Listen to the podcast here.
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The BBC reports:
Former Argentine Gen Eduardo Cabanillas has been sentenced to life in prison for running a notorious detention centre during military rule in 1976-83. Three former intelligence officers were also convicted of murder, torture and illegal imprisonment. Around 200 left-wing activists were kidnapped and taken to the Automotores Orletti secret prison...
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On this day, 1939, Franco declared victory over the Spanish Republic. In this five-minute video, produced for the exhibition “Facing Fascism: New York and the Spanish Civil War,” several New Yorkers, including Lincoln vets Abe Osheroff and Abe Smorodin, remember that sad day. Video here: When the War Was Over
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The socialization and assimilation of second generation children of immigrants promoted by World War II is a relatively well-known phenomenon. Peter Carroll has argued that for many of the children-of-immigrant volunteers in the Lincoln Brigade, service in Spain was, in a complex way, a path towards Americanization. This insight is powerfully borne out in...
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The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting social activism and the defense of human rights. ALBA’s work is inspired by the American volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Learn more at our website or
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New information about the New Zealand-born Spanish Civil War surgeon Doug Jolly (1904-1983) has emerged following the recent publication of his biography, Frontline Surgeon.
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On September 24, 1945, Dr. Barsky delivered this speech during the Spanish Refugee Appeal rally at Madison Square Garden.
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In 1944, Barsky wrote A Surgeon Goes to War, an 18-chapter memoir of his time in Spain, which was never published but can be consulted at NYU’s Tamiment Library. This is the first chapter.
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Self-effacing and shy though he was, Dr. Edward Barsky’s experience in Spain made him an outspoken activist, tireless organizer, innovative frontline surgeon, and political prisoner. “Eddie is a saint,” Hemingway wrote. “That’s where we put our saints in this country—in jail.”
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The Volunteer is thrilled to honor Dr. Barsky on the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
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For Edward Barsky, political and humanitarian activism were two sides of the same coin. Those who persecuted him begged to differ.
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The time she spent in civil-war Spain loomed large in the life of Martha Gellhorn, the St. Louis-born war journalist. “The truth is that Martha could not stop thinking, feeling, and writing about her Spanish experiences.” “Objectivity bullshit.” That’s what Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) called the journalism of her day. Her letters to personalities like...
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Among the thousands of Jewish volunteers who joined the International Brigades were many descendants of the Sephardim. What was it like for them to “return” to Spain? Three case studies: Lini de Vries, César Covo, and Samuel Nahman, aka Manny Harriman.
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How the 22-year-old Jewish American dancer Janet Riesenfeld performed flamenco to help raise money for the Second Republic under fascist attack.
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Why did Jawaharlal Nehru, future prime minister of India, visit civil-war Spain in 1938? As it turned out, the triangular relationship between Britain, Spain, and India had deep cultural and geopolitical implications.
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ALBA's project to provide a complete list of the more than 2,800 individuals who left from U.S. territory to fight with the Spanish Republic
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